Lake County Libraries Work With Local Schools

Linda Goff

At a recent meeting, I presented a brief summary on how our 15 public libraries reach out to 55 local schools, the Educational Foundation and the Early Learning Coalition. I thought you might like to see a list of various ways our public libraries support local schools and the wonderful work they do with public school, private school and homeschool students.

We promote free library cards to all Lake County students

We offer free library cards to "reciprocal borrower" students from Marion, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia Counties plus Lake Sumter State College students

We link to the Lake County Schools' website (http://lake.k12.fl.us) from our library site for easy access to student and parent information

We attend a wide variety of school and community events to present information about what Lake County Library System has to offer students

We offer afterschool programs for school students

We provide reference help and readers' advisory for school assignments

We have free Internet access on library computers, wireless Internet throughout each library

We provide students library computers to type up and print out school reports

We hold themed Summer Reading Programs in June and July which help students maintain the skills they've developed during the school year

We offer volunteer opportunities for teens

We hold countywide library-sponsored contests such as the annual Bookmark Design Contest and encourage all school students to enter

Youth staff from the public libraries seek to form partnerships with media specialists and classroom teachers Librarians from public libraries visit schools to present fun and informative programs in the classroom or take part in morning announcements. Schools are also invited to bring classes to the libraries for field trips. As Youth Services Coordinator, I attend the annual FAME Conference which is heavily attended by Florida media specialists. This allows communication and brainstorming with our LCPS and other school systems.